| Details | | Publication Date: | 1996-08-01 | | Series: | Twentieth Century Fund Books | | Edition Description: | Reprint |
| Size | | Height: | 9.0 in | | Width: | 6.0 in | | Thickness: | 0.8 in | | Weight: | 14.4 oz |
Publisher's Note
"An important book, which deserves attention not only in the Pentagon but, more important, on Capitol Hill." -- Foreign Affairs Author of two widely-read books on the defense industry, Jacques Gansler takes a hard look at the need to convert the industry from an inefficient and noncompetitive part of the U.S. economy to an integrated, civilian/military operation. He defines the challenges, especially the influence of old-line defense interests, and presents examples of restructuring. Gansler discusses growing foreign involvement, lessons of prior industrial conversions, the best structure for the next century, current barriers to integration, a three-part transformation strategy, the role of technological leadership, and the critical workforce. He concludes by outlining sixteen specific actions for achieving civil/military integration. In Gansler's view, the end of the Cold War with the former Soviet Union represents a permanent downturn rather than a cyclical decline in the defense budget. He argues that this critical transition period requires a restructuring of the defense acquisitions process to achieve a balance between economic concerns and national security, while maintaining a force size and equipment modernization capable of deterring future conflicts. Gansler argues that for the defense industry to survive and thrive, the government must make its acquisitions process more flexible, specifically by lowering barriers to integration. This includes, among other things, rethinking the production specifications for new equipment and changing bids for contracts from a cost basis to a price basis. Gansler point out that by making primarily political and procedural changes (rather than legislative ones), companies will be able to produce technology for both civilian and military markets, instead of exclusively for one or the other as has been the norm. This dual-use approach would save the government billions of dollars annually and would enable the military to diversify by utilizing state-of-the-art. A Twentieth Century Fund Book
Author of two widely read books on the defense industry, Jacques Gansler takes a hard look at the need to convert the industry from an inefficient and noncompetitive part of the U.S. economy to an integrated civilian/military operation.
Industry Reviews
As an alternative to either supporting an overweight dinosaur defense industry or else letting it go extinct on its own merits, advocates integrating US industries into a civil/military structure that is both militarily and commercially viable. Gansler, former deputy assistant secretary of defense and director of an applied information technology company, says the US government should help defense companies diversify just enough to continue providing military products without depending solely on that market. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.
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